‘Sizeable minority’ approves of practice by border guards, new poll from Forum Research suggests

Half of Canadians disapprove of border officials being able to search devices like laptops and cellphones at the border without a warrant, suggests a new poll by Forum Research.

According to the sampling, which asked 1,150 Canadians for their stance on the issue earlier this month, 30 per cent “strongly disapprove” of warrantless device searches by Canadian border officers while another 16 per cent said they disapprove.

Fourteen per cent said they neither approve nor disapprove, while 15 per cent and 22 per cent said they either approve or strongly approve of warrantless device searches.